The Reader's Companion to Cuba

by Alan Ryan

A gathering of some of the best travel writing ever about the most intriguing hot spot in the Caribbean, this book includes work by Hemingway, Langston Hughes, Thomas Merton, Anais N•n, Frederic Remington, James Michener, Tommy Lasorda, and others. The Reader’s Companion to Cuba offers an infinitely more revealing and personal time-lapse “tour” of this complex country than could possibly be offered by any standard guidebook. Map.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

416 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 1997

About the author

Alan Peter Ryan was an American author and editor, known for his work in the horror genre in the 1980s.

Reviews

[Carol Bakker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to rate - I'm somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. I enjoyed reading this book but skipped a few chapters that were off color.

I wanted to read this after I had read The Old Man and the Sea. Familiar authors were Anthony Trollope, John Muir, Frederick Remington, Langston Hughes, Thomas Merton, Patrick Leigh Fermor, Graham Greene, Tommy Lasorda, and Mark Kurlansky.

The earlier sections mentioned slavery and subjugation as matters of fact. Some of the later selections were hymns to Fidel Castro and all that he has done for the island. (barf bag not included)

Several passages stirred me: Muir writing about the songs of waves, Thomas Merton's description of the children's glad and triumphant singing of the Creed during mass, and —so sadly—Norman Lewis's interview of an apathetic Ernest Hemingway four years before EH took his life.

Pico Iyer wrote: In Communist Cuba, of course, you will find shortages of everything except ironies.

Norman Lewis's portrait of Hemingway:

There was something biblical about it, like having the old sermon about vanities shoved down your throat in the middle of whatever you happen to be doing with your life in the workaday world. They give funny names to the buses in this town, and there's one that runs past the hotel that says WE JUST RAN SHORT OF GREATNESS, which just about sums him up, although perhaps understating the case. This man has had about everything any man can ever have wanted, and to meet him was a shattering experience of the kind likely to sabotage ambition — which may or may not be a good thing. You wanted to know his opinion on the possible outcome of what is happening here. The answer unfortunately is that he no longer cares to hold opinions, because his life has lost its taste. He told me nothing, but he taught me more than I wanted to know.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compilation of articles excerpted from the works of 23 authors who give us a portrait of Cuba as seen through travelers' eyes. The pieces are arranged chronologically, starting in 1859 and ending in 1992.

A must read for anyone interested in Cuba as you get a moving picture of the political, social, economic, and everyday life of the Cuban people through the eyes of a very diverse range of observers across a wide timespan.

[Andrew Hardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A kaleidoscopic telling of an equally multifaceted but fascinating country. It serves as a proper companion, even if the summer of 2022 revealed a completely different country than the one mentioned here.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent and interesting background reading before a trip to Cuba comprised of two dozen reports from visitors to Cuba from the mid 19th century to the mid 1990s, including pieces by Anahi's nin, Langston Hughes, graham Greene and tommy lusorda. As the back cover says, "an infinitely more revealing and personal time-lapse 'tour' of this complex country than could be offered by any standard guidebook".

[Norma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contemplating our pending trip to Cuba this spring, I rec'd this book as a gift. It is set up to explain excerpts from prominent travelers' essays on their travels to Cuba from the mid 1800's to the 1990's. Many were very interesting ranging from describing the land, flora, expeditions, excursions, mafia, baseball, Fidel and Hemingway. Looking forward to our trip even more now.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really well done! Some chapters were completely engrossing, and others were great to skim over. I loved how different each author's focus and point of view was.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommend---great collection of essays by visitors to Cuba which gives you insights on Cuba, but even more on the visitors.